Taming the flame
by Literaturefangirl
Summary: A story in which Loki is punished for his actions in "The Avengers" but is comforted by his brother Thor. Loki soon finds that his burning emotions of jealousy and hate are slowly dwindling. Rated K for bromance.
1. Taming the flame: Chapter 1

After a thundering crack and a burst of bright coloured energy, Loki and Thor left Midguard with the Teseract cube, and they arrived at Asgard.

Loki had lost all his former glory and was reduced to being a prisoner. His hands were shackled with restraints, his mouth was covered with a muzzle.  
Thor was by his side, to prevent him from escaping.

They went to the healers to fix some minor bruises, and stitch small opened wounds. In Loki's case he was given herbs to numb the pain from the devastating blows that the Hulk had inflicted on him. Thor's wound inflicted by Loki's dagger was stitched.

After they had been well tended to, the brothers walked towards Odin's palace.  
The guards at the door opened the door for them.  
Before they walked in Thor gave one of the guards the Teseract cube and told him to put it in the treasure room. The guard nodded once and walked in with Thor and Loki towards the treasure room while the brothers entered the palace into the audience hall.

Odin was seated on his throne at the top of a dais with a stern expression on his face.  
Thor and Loki stood near the bottom of the dais. Thor kneeled. Loki simply glared at his father, until Thor grabbed one his arms and dragged Loki to the floor into a kneeling position. Loki winced in pain, but his cry was not heard. Odin then began to speak.

"Welcome home, my sons." Odin greeted his sons with a pleased voice.  
"Loki I am pleased to see that you are alive. However what you have done to Midguard is unforgivable. You have destroyed parts of that realm, terrorised and killed some of the mortals and In doing so, you have humiliated our family.

I cannot claim that I protect the realms, when my own son tries to destroy one.  
You always crave so much attention, so as temporary punishment you will be confined to your quarters with no visitors, to think about what you have done until I have thought of an appropriate punishment for you. Now get out of my sight."  
Odin ordered Loki.

"Thor escort Loki to his quarters, untie him and take that device off his mouth" Odin ordered Thor.  
Thor nodded once and escorted Loki to his quarters.  
Loki gave Thor a steely stare, walked in and held that stare until Thor closed the door.

How dare he treat me like this? Like a dog confined to his kennel outside. It only shows how much he cares about me, Loki thought  
The truth is that Loki couldn't have been more wrong. Odin had isolated Loki, to give him a chance to think about what he had done wrong, to realise his mistake, learn from it and become a better person.  
Odin was only trying to be a good father by teaching Loki about what was right and wrong.  
Unfortunately Loki had interpreted at as disdain towards him.

Later during the day Thor took the risk of defying his father's orders and visited Loki.  
Loki was lying on his bed, rubbing the left side of his ribs. Despite the herb mixture given to him by the healers, Loki was still sore. After all, the Hulk had smashed him in a way, that what would have normally killed a human being.

Thor was standing in the doorway and asked in a concerned voice.

"How are you feeling brother?" Thor took a step towards Loki.

"Take one step closer and I'll singe all that precious hair of yours." Loki warned Thor with a threatening tone.

"Well that's a risk, I'm going to have to take." Thor shrugged.  
Loki conjured up two fireballs in his hands and threw them both at Thor as he entered the room.

Thor simply put out the fireballs with a swing of Mjolnir and they dissipated in the air. Loki simply rolled his eyes and sighed quietly. Part of him had actually believed the fireballs would hit Thor, but it was more like wishful thinking and his logical side told him it was typical of Thor to have been able to put out the fireballs.

Thor stood next to Loki and repeated his question. Loki stayed silent with a neutral expression on his face. Loki had already waited in his room for a while and was curious to see how long Thor was going to wait until he answered his question.

An hour soon passed and Loki no longer found it amusing to observe Thor's patience thinning and was bored.

Thor soon realized that all forms of communications would have to come from himself and decided that Loki would just have to listen.

"We all missed you, you know." Thor stated to Loki.  
Loki's muscles tensed upon hearing this.

"Father may have punished you, but he was happy when he heard you were alive."  
This stirred something up in Loki and his stubborn silence streak ended.

"I AM the good of lies Thor, so stop stealing my thunder." Loki announced and then slapped his forehead, realising his stupidity and remembering that he was talking to the God of lightning.

"I would not lie to you brother. I am the one who told Father you were alive and I saw the tears of joy upon his face." Thor reassured Loki.

"He was only happy to get back his stolen relic. I am nothing but a war trophy to him. I wish he had just left me to die." Loki argued.

"That is a LIE, you are a beloved son to him and you know it. You should be grateful that he saved your life and gave you a loving family, when your own family didn't want you." Thor raised his voice a little, angered at Loki's ungrateful attitude.

"Well if he loved me so much, then why didn't he give me the throne? All I wanted was some consideration, to be thought worthy to rule." Loki questioned Thor.

"He did think that you were worthy, but he thought that ruling wouldn't suit you, that it would be a burden to you with such a serious responsibility, he was only doing the best for you."

Normally Loki had a great way with words, but that sentence had silenced him. Thor had given him a new perspective and he was feeling overwhelmed with emotions. Why didn't Father tell me before? He thought angrily.

Thor then moved towards him with his arms apart ready to embrace him.

"If you hug me, I will burn you." Loki threatened in a dangerous tone.

"Alright." Thor grinned and hugged him.

Loki then conjured up flames and tried to burn Thor's back. Thor felt the heat and winced which only served to make him hug Loki even harder.

Thor held this embrace despite the pain he was feeling, because his love for Loki was so strong that his love conquered the pain.  
Loki was confused and thought why does he continue to hug me when I'm hurting him so much?

Because he loves you a little voice in his head told him and at that moment Loki's icy heart thawed and he put out the flames and hugged Thor back.


	2. Taming the flame: Chapter 2

In which Loki fixes Bifrost, gets banished to Midguard and tastes pudding for the first time.

A week had elapsed since Loki had been confined to his room.

He is trying to intimidate me and unsettle my nerves by making me wait long and imagine the horrors he can do to me, but I won't let him. I can withstand any punishment he gives me, Loki thought with a fierce determination to stay brave.

The truth was that Loki was feeling tense and trying to convince himself that everything was going to be alright, but after a week of anticipation, boredom and deep thinking Loki was tearing his mind to shreds.

A single tear slid down his cheek as if his bravery was draining from his soul.  
Loki gritted his teeth and frowned and regained his courage.  
Then Loki heard a knock on the door.

"Enter." Loki said with a non committal voice.  
A palace guard opened the door and announced.

"Prince Loki, King Odin requests your presence in the audience hall. Please follow me."  
Loki said nothing and followed the palace guard towards the hall.  
That is so typical father doesn't even trust me to follow simple instructions and believes I need an escort all the time. Loki thought in disgust and sighed internally.

They soon arrived at the audience hall. Odin was seated on his throne, but this time he had the Teseract cube in a glass container on his lap. He held it firmly.  
The guard kneeled, as did Loki having learned from his experience of Thor dragging him to his knees.

Loki saw the cube and panicked. His pupils dilated, he began to sweat, his heart beat faster and his breathing quickened.  
Adrenalin coursed through his veins and Loki felt a terrible knot in his stomach.  
He would kill his own son to punish him? Loki thought in horror.

Well he did banish Thor for his actions, I don't see why killing would be any different, a paranoid voice in his head told him.  
No he wouldn't kill me, if he is going to punish me, it is going to be long lasting to teach me a lesson. The logical voice in his head thought bitterly.  
While Loki was contemplating Odin began to speak.

"Loki, I trust that the week in confinement has made you reflect and seen the errors of your ways?"  
Loki, still wanting to defy Odin said nothing. Odin then gave him an intense frown as if to say this isn't the time to play with me Loki, now answer me.

Upon seeing the frown Loki reacted and answered.

"It has." Loki said succinctly.

"I have decided that as punishment for attacking Midguard you will fix Bifrost. Upon completion of this task, you will travel to Midguard and help repair the damage you have done. You will fix Bifrost with this. Now rise"  
Odin said and presented the Teseract cube to Loki.  
Loki rose but protested.

"But I do not know how to fix Bifrost with the cube."

"You thought yourself so mighty and able to conquer Midguard, so you should have no problem solving how to fix Bifrost."  
Odin replied with a dangerous tone that implied that Loki had no choice.  
Loki frowned but took the cube anyway. The palace guard then escorted Loki to Bifrost.  
Odin had allowed Loki to use his sceptre as it was a more efficient way to fix Bifrost, but only with strict supervision.

Loki had been fitted with a magic tether to stop him from jumping into the abyss.  
Loki walked up near the edge of Bifrost kneeled down. He tapped a part of the edge with the sceptre. New white strands of Bifrost began to grow. They began to intertwine, resembling writhing snakes. They then settled with a dull crack, creating a new component of the bridge. The crack caused a ripple of colour to spread, permeating the new white material.

Once the rainbow colours had permeated the new component, the component emitted a blinding white flash and then faded. The new component of the bridge had mottled rainbow colours which faded and glowed. Loki had successfully built a new part of Bifrost.  
Loki's eyes widened in and Loki let out a whisper of awe. It was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

A month passed and Loki had fixed Bifrost. It was time for Loki to leave.  
Thor and Frigga had said their goodbyes and now it was Odin's turn.  
Odin had wanted their goodbye to be private so they went to his chamber.

"My people know that I have punished you for your actions, they want a strong leader who does not make exceptions.  
I expect you to learn from your actions and to repair the damage that you have caused. I also want you to know that I am proud of you Loki. You have repaired Bifrost and you will soon repair the damage you inflicted upon Midguard. Your actions have the quality of a worthy leader." Odin praised Loki

Loki was taken aback by this. This was not what he was expecting at all. Loki then recovered from the shock and nodded.

Loki was then sent to Midguard. Loki was wearing a white shirt, a black tie and suit and a green and yellow scarf with circular patterns on it. He had also been forced to wear a ring to diminish his powers.  
This made him only be able to conjure up the necessities such as water, clothes and food and to prevent him from causing mischief.

It also masked his identity, it made him not be recognized, made him have no identifying marks of any kind and left no lasting memory with anyone he encountered.  
The hours of repairing Bifrost had left Loki slightly weak and famished and Odin has sent him straight to Midguard after repairing Bifrost.

Loki had arrived in Midguard near the edge of the city of New York. After a few minutes of walking he arrived near a food court.  
Loki was too tired to conjure food but strong enough to conjure some small coins of Midguard currency. He entered a café and sat down on some leather seats.  
He was thinking of what he could order when he heard a woman order something interesting.  
Pudding.

Loki turned around. The woman was slightly chubby and had a huge smile on her face.  
Loki deduced that this 'pudding' must taste very good.  
If I'm going to get used to Midguardian food I might as well try some pudding.  
I'm so tired right now, I deserve something good to eat Loki thought.  
After the woman had made her order, Loki asked for the same order and payed.

After a few minutes the puddings had been made. A delicious aroma permeated the café.  
Loki thanked the waiter, picked up a spoon, scooped a piece and ate it.  
Loki closed his eyes, let out a soft audible sound of pleasure and a huge smile spread across his face; the first in many days.  
I'm going to love my time at Midguard Loki thought happily.

**THE END**


End file.
